Combine Extends Northern Boundary - 11/01/2020

[willie reynolds]

The East Down Combine held it’s AGM on Saturday January 11th 2020 in the War Memorial Hall in Crossgar . There was a good representation of members and as the title suggests there were a number of important proposals on the agenda .

The chairman Len McCavery got the proceedings underway at 2pm and after welcoming all members present requested a minutes silence for those who had passed away since the previous year’s meeting .

Apologies were then received and recorded and the Financial Secretary Sam Duke was then requested to read the minutes of the previous AGM which were passed as a true record of that meeting .

The meeting then moved on to the first item on the Agenda which was the Chairman’s Report from Len McCavery and in a very comprehensive report all the Officials ,Centre Officials and General Committee were thanked for all their hard work and support throughout the season. The outgoing President John Kirk was thanked for the contribution he had made throughout the Year and Colin Smyth (vice chairman) was thanked for his help and Len had a special word of thanks for Sam Duke who had put in a tremendous amount of work as Financial Secretary , and for Dorothy Smyth for all her tireless work and for her organisation of the year’s breeder/buyer and her work for the Annual Dinner .

Len then thanked the PRO’s for all their work throughout the season keeping the Combine to the forefront in many areas , he also thanked the Transport Committee ,Race Controllers & Drivers & Auditors . .
The weather Committee were thanked for all the work they had put into making decisions regarding basketing days etc which although not always popular were made in the best interests of the membership based on the information available to them at the time and congratulated Doley Croskery who had done so well yet again as Race Controller. Len went on to thank Marshall Feeds for once again supplying the On Board feeding throughout the season . In Conclusion Len extended congratulations to all the 2019 prize winners . The Chairman’s report which as always was well presented was well received by those present .

The next two items on the agenda were the Secretary and Treasurer’s reports and as Sam Duke combines both roles as Financial Secretary he combined his reports . Starting with the Secretary’s report Sam reiterated all of what Len had said by way of thanking all those who worked so hard for the Combine and he had a special word of thanks for Len McCavery for his role as chairman of the Combine in 2019 and John Kirk for his year as President and he commended Dorothy Smyth for the outstanding amount of work she had put in once again over the year especially with the Organisation of the Breeder/Buyer , and the Annual Dinner .He also thanked all the club Secretaries and Treasurers for their assistance throughout the past season and extended his congratulations to all the prize winners of 2019

Moving on to look at the accounts and the 2019and Sam pointed out that the membership was only slightly reduced from the previous season and the Combine was still sound financially although showing a deficit for the year of just over £4,000
Sam then went through the rest of the Income & Expenditure account and Balance sheet in detail and then invited questions or comments from the floor but as his explanations had been very detailed the Accounts were passed with only clarification being sought on how the Depreciation figures were calculated.
Brendan McLoughlin then spoke on behalf of the Combine Auditors and endorsed what Sam had explained to everyone. Stating that the Combine were very fortunate to have an excellent Treasurer with the books being prepared and kept in a very professional manner and this was reiterated by John Gordon the Combine’s other auditor .

As there was no Correspondence for 2019 the meeting moved on to the next item which was the election of office bearers for 2020 and Len McCavery invited Colin Watson to conduct this part of the meeting . Colin Congratulated the 2019 prize winners and conducted the election of the office bearers for 2020
The principal Office Bearers elected for the 2020 season are as follows ;


PRESIDENT Dolan Croskery

VICE PRESIDENT Jim Young

JUNIOR VICE PRESIDENT Len McCavery

CHAIRMAN Len McCavery

V/CHAIRMAN Jim Young

FINANCIAL SECRETARY Sam Duke

RACE CONTROLLER Dolan Croskery

Assistant race Controller Mrs Dorothy Smyth

PROs Ronnie Johnston
Mrs Dorothy Smyth
Clifford Browne


The committee saw 4 members standing down for 2020 and the remainder were re elected with one addition that being Joe McGreevy ( Crossgar ).
With the election of the Office Bearers complete it was then time to look at the new business of the afternoon and this saw several proposals for the 2020 race programme plus a number of other items of importance . Looking at the 2020 Race Programme first

OLD BIRDS :
The 2019 EDC Old Bird Race Programme automatically goes on the Agenda for 2020 . 1st Tullamore,2nd Tullamore, Thurles, 1st Fermoy, Mallow, Skibbereen Classic , Talbenny & Talbenny Classic, 2nd Fermoy , Bude & Bude Classic & Derek Wishart Classic Mallow (same day), 3rd Fermoy, Penzance and Penzance Classic , St. Malo Old Bird Derby

PROPOSAL (A) SUBMITTED BY The East Down Combine General Committee----
Mullingar, Tullamore, 1st Thurles, Mallow, 1st Macroom, Skibbereen Classic, Talbenny, 2nd Macroom, Bude & Derek Wishart Classic Macroom (same Day) 2nd Thurles , Penzance & Penzance Classic , St. Malo Old Bird Derby

PROPOSAL ( B) SUBMITTED BY KILLYLEAGH HPS ------
Mullingar, Tullamore ,1st Fermoy, Mallow, Skibbereen Classic ,1st Talbenny,2nd Talbenny & Derek Wishart Classic Mallow (same Day) , 2nd Fermoy, Bude , Penzance & Penzance Classic , St. Malo Old Bird Derby

PROPOSAL ( C) SUBMITTED BY DOWNPATRICK PREMIER -----
1st Tullamore ,2nd Tullamore ,Thurles ,1st Pilmore Beach, Mallow, SkibbereenClassic ,Tullamore Comeback midweek , Talbenny,2nd Pilmore Beach, Bude & D Wishart Mallow(same day) , 3rd Pilmore Beach, Penzance & Penzance Classic ,St.Malo Old Bird Derby

On being put to a vote Proposal (A) submitted by the General Committee carried

. Moving on to the Young Bird Programmes and again the 2019 EAST DOWN COMBINE YOUNG BIRD PROGRAMME AUTOMATICALLY went ON THE AGENDA FOR 2020 .
Which was ; 1st Navan,2nd Navan , 1st Tullamore, 2nd Tullamore , 1st Thurles, Fermoy, 2nd Thurles, & Talbenny Young Bird Derby (on the same day) 1st SkibbereenYoung Bird Derby, 2nd Skibbereen Young Bird Derby.



PROPOSAL (A) SUBMITTED BY THE EAST DOWN GENERAL COMMITTEE ----
1st Navan, 2nd Navan 1st Tullamore, 2nd Tullamore ,Mullingar Comeback (midweek) 1st Thurles ,2nd Thurles , Mallow& Talbenny Derby( same day) Macroom YB Derby, Skibbereen YB Derby.


PROPOSAL ( B) SUBMITTED BY KILLYLEAGH HPS --
1st Navan, 2nd Navan Mullingar, Tullamore , Thurles , 1st Fermoy & Talbenny YB Derby (Same Day ) , 2nd Fermoy, Skibbereen YB Derby .

PROPOSAL ( C) SUBMITTED BY DOWNPATRICK PREMIER --
1st Navan ,2nd Navan, 1st Tullamore, 2nd Tullamore ,1st Navan (Comeback Midweek) , 1st Thurles , 2nd Navan (Comeback Midweek ) Mallow, 2nd Thurles & Talbenny YB Derby ( Same Day ) 1st Skibbereen YB Derby, 2nd Skibbereen YB Derby

On being put to the meeting the committee’s proposal carried and racing is due to commence on SATURDAY 11TH APRIL 2020.



As I said there were a number of other proposals submitted, one by the Combine committee for consideration and it along with an almost identical proposition by the Bangor Club sees a change to the current criteria for calculating the East Down Championship , Championship points be changed from a points per first bird system dependant on position in the top 40 in the open or top 20 in the section .
The New system to be POINTS PER LOFT in each race with the top 40 LOFTS IN THE COMBINE and the top 20 LOFTS IN EACH COMBINE SECTION gaining points in the respective Championships (ie.Inland Old Bird , Channel Old Bird & Young Bird ) .Please note there will be no change to the current Combine Open (first 40 Birds ) or section ( first 20 Birds) Results .
Note : the current method of awarding points from the championship to the open and Section Fancier of the year will remain unchanged . This proposal was passed .

The next item was a proposal by the East Down Combine General Committee which read as follows ; Boundary of the East Down Combine will be the B103 road from the point where it meets longitude 6degress West to the points where it meets the Belfast City boundary, the Belfast city boundary to the point where it meets the river Lagan at Shaw’s Bridge . The river Lagan to Belfast Lough and Belfast Lough. Following discussion this was put to the meeting and passed with a considerable majority.

The last item on the agenda was correspondence for 2020 and the only correspondence was a letter of application from the Belmont club to join the East Down Combine and the meeting voted them in and we look forward to them racing with us in 2020 .
The only other items of business was the Chairman sought the permission of the meeting to allow the Secretary to dispose of the 2019 paperwork .
This being all the business of the afternoon the chairman closed the meeting after thanking everyone for their attendance .
2 Bird Dinner and AGM

Just a reminder that the 2 bird Dinner will be held in the Temple Golf club on Friday 31st January followed by the club’s AGM on Monday 10th February further details can be obtained from Dorothy Smyth .

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BALLYLESSON NEW YEAR SHOW RESULTS

For the New Year Show at Ballylesson the club extends their thanks to the judges Tommy McClean , Tommy McIntyre , Jonny Brush , Don Edgar ,Samuel Ogle and Stanley West who did a great job judging the various classes the results of which were ;

OLD HENS T/W
1st C & D Smyth & Sons , 2nd C& D Smyth & sons 3rd J Kirk & Sons , 4th J Patterson , RESERVE J Patterson VHC J Kirk & Sons HC Gillespie Bros COMMENDED Gillespie Bros

OLD HENS HANDLED
1st C & D Smyth & sons 2nd J Patterson ,3rd J Kirk & Sons 4th J Kirk & Sons RESERVE J Patterson VHC Gillespie Bros HC J Patterson COMMENDED Gillespie Bros

OLD COCKS T/W
1st C& D Smyth & sons , 2nd P & C Johnson 3rd Massey Bros 4th C & D Smyth & Sons RESERVE J Kirk & Sons VHC Gillespie Bros HC J Kirk & Sons COMMENDED R Trimble

OLD COCKS HANDLED
1st Gillespie Bros ,2nd Gillespie Bros ,3rd Massey Bros , 4th R Trimble RESERVE J Patterson VHC J Kirk& Sons HC P & C Johnson COMMENDED R Trimble

Y/B T/W
1st J Kirk & Sons , J Kirk & Sons , 3rd J Kirk &Sons , 4th C & D Smyth & Sons RESERVE Gillespie Bros VHC J Kirk& Sons HC J Kirk & sons COMMENDED J Kirk & sons

Y/B HANDLED
1st J Kirk & Sons ,2nd J Kirk & Sons , 3rd J Kirk & sons , 4th C & D Smyth & Sons RESERVE Gillespie Bros VHC J Kirk & Sons HC C & D Smyth & Sons COMMENDED J Patterson
EYESIGN
1st J Kirk & Sons , 2nd P & C Johnson, 3rd Gillespie Bros, 4th J Kirk & sons , RESERVE R Trimble VHC R Trimble HC R Trimble COMMENDED Mackey & Lockhart


BEST IN SHOW Gillespie Bros - BEST OPPOSITE SEX C & D Smyth & sons Clifford Browne PO